Sunday, April 27, 2008

On Tuesday morning, I will be leaving for a very emotional two week trip to Poland and Israel. As I reflect upon the terrible fires that engulfed our nation 60 years ago, it brings tears to my eyes to consider that we are in the midst of a very dangerous spiritual genocide. Consider that in the United States, there is a 50% intermarriage rate, with rampant assimilation and Torah-ignorance, with ritual observance at an all time low. Approximately 600 000 American Jews identity with some form of Christianity. Imagine, the descendants of good, strong Russian Jews from the Pale of Settlement who resisted the Czar's armies with all their might, getting baptized. Jewish children accepting Jesus! Sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob going to church, praying to the Virgin, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. What a tragedy! In Israel, many, following their service in the army, search out spirituality in India and move to ashrams. The travesty of Jews in Israel, the world capital of spirituality, forced to drink impure water from foreign wells of avodah zara in the far-flung East!

My Jewish brothers, lost sons and daughters of Israel, I plead with you to return home. Judaism is one of the world's most ancient faiths, which has outlasted nations, empires and ideologies. Whether you have found your true calling as a monk in Tibet, accepted the sweetness of Allah's deen, worship Jesus christ as your Lord and Saviour or are just lost amidst the aggressive secularism of today's soceity, please do not abandon your heritage. For you to be alive today as a Jew is the greatest of miracles. Do not accomplish yourself what so many tyrants, dictators and despots have tried to do to the Jewish people. Israel stands for Yesh Shishim Ribot Otiot La'Torah- there are 600 000 letters in the Torah. There is one letter for every Jew. Just as a Torah scroll in invalidated if even one letter is missing, our nation is defficient as long as one Jew is away from home. I love you with all my heart and I plead with you to reconsider your Jewish identity, to reconnect with your past and to strengthen your Judaism.

There is a story of, following the terrible Nazi Shoah, that R. Yosef Kahaneman zt'l, the Ponevezhe Rav began looking for Jewish children who had survived the war. It was known that some of the children had ended up in churches and were being raised as Christians. The church denied vigorously such a phenomenon. R. Kahaneman took it upon himself to travel Europe and search in monasteries and convents. When he got there, he would recite out loud: "Shemah Yisrael, HaShem Elokeinu, HaShem echad"- Hear O Israel, HaShem is our G-d, HaShem is One. Immediately, the Jewish children would raise their hands and cry out 'mama, mama'. They had come home. Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the Shemah. They are engraved upon your hearts and souls. We have been burnt by scorching fire, drowned in cruel waters, starved, beaten and oppressed but we have never forgotten the Shemah. No matter how far you've strayed, you can always come back. Do not turn your back on your people.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

It is common knowledge that it is those who differ from the norm who are called upon to explain themselves rather than the opposite. That means that if everybody is standing in a line, the person who leaves the line must explain why he did so, rather than those who are in line explain why they are there. In that sense, the onus falls on Christians to explain their faith to us and set out why Jesus was the messiah, as opposed to the Jewish people having to defend themselves against their accusations. On what right did Christians create a new standard for messiahood, virtually ignoring the requirements set down by the Prophets of Israel? It is not the Jew who keeps the time-hallowed traditions and ways of his ancestors whose faith must be on trial, but it is the upstart apostate who must demonstrate to us why he has chosen to reject the ancient path.

On the Shabbat of August 4th, 1263, the Ramban (Nachmanides) was summoned by the Spanish King James to a great disputation at Barcelon between him and the apostate and traitor Paoli Christiani. The subject was the Jews' refusal to accept Christianity. After a few introductody statements, the Ramban arose and spoke clearly and forcefully: "I am amazed. The words said in our presence to convince us that the Nazarene is the Messiah, were said by the Nazarene himself when he brought this same message to our ancestors and tried to persuade them. They refuted him to his face with a perfect and strong rejection despite the fact that it was he who spoke, who knew and could argue his claim that he is divine, in accordance to your opinion, better than you can today. Now, if our ancestors who saw him and knew him did not heed him, how then can we believe and heed the voice of the king, whose only knowledge of the matter stems merely from the hearsay of distant reporters who heard it from people who neither knew him nor were his countrymen as our ancestors knew him and witnessed his life." This, calmly and honestly, is the crux of the matter. Jesus, if he existed as a historical figure as portrayed in the Gospels, certainly presented himself before the Sanhedrin and the greatest of the Sages of the day and argued for his divinity. Jesus was certainly able to argue more passionately and logically for his divinity and messiahood that anybody else can today, and yet they refuted him to his face. In fact, the Jews were so apathetic about him that they found it unecessary to even preserve one Hebrew manuscript of the Gospel as part of the Tanach. They had recognized the falsity of his claim, that the law of Moses was eternal and that the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was no pitiful man.

The Jewish conception of G-d is not based upon philosophical reasoning or anceitn dogma. Rather, our knowledge of G-d comes from the mass revelation at Sinai, from our true and goodly prophets and from G-d's mouth Himself. At Sinai, the Jewish people heard G-d proclaim that there is no other besides Him. They were commanded to preserve the memory of that awesome moment and to teach it to their children. "To you it was demonstrated in order that you know that the Lord is the G-d, there is none beside Him." G-d instructed us how to worship Him, and anything which G-d did not tell us to worship in simple terms is idolatry. G-d identified the idols by saying “that which I have not commanded” or “those which you do not know.” Therefore, any deity which G-d has no commanded us to worship or which did not appear to us at Sinai is idolatry. Since no one would argue that Jesus took the Jews out of Egypt, and his name does not appear once in the entire Torah, then by what right does any Jew have to accord him the right of divinity?

The Jewish method of worship has been determined by G-d since Sinai and there is no reason to alter it. When Jesus came before the greatest and most knowledgeable of Sages to preach his new philosophy, they quickly refuted his arguments and prevented him from leading Israel astray. The Jews quickly forgot about this whole event. The early Christian writer Justin quoted a Jew named Trypho as saying: "Ye follow an empty rumour and make a christ for yourself. If he [Jesus] was born and lived somewhere, he is entirely unknown." The Jews responded apahtetically to but another messianic pretender and heretical religious offshoot. Now, if the Jews of Jesus' day saw him face to face, heard his reasoning and arguments from his very mouth, and still knew that he was not the messiah, then why should anybody accept him today when the only thing that is known about Jesus is mere hearsay passed down and distorted through the centuries? What right does a Jew have to disobey and go contrary to the generations of rabbis and sages, indeed the masses of the Jewish people, who were adamant that Jesus was not the messiah but a sinner and a heretic? Why should he break the chain of generations? Is he greater than Rashi and the Rambam, the Ramban and the Vilna Gaon, the Baal Shem Tov among the thousands of great Jewish leaders?

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Many people are under the mistaken impression that the only issue separating Judaism and Christianity is the identity of the moshiach. This is a falsehood. Whether the moshiach will be the Lubavitcher Rebbe, John, Bob, Yankel or Ariel, Judaism will remain the same. A host of things separate Judaism from Christianity, namely the nature of G-d, sin and repentance, Original Sin, the nature of the Scriptures, the eternity of the commandments, etc. Since one of the most prevalent Messianic claim is that Christianity is "complete Judaism", I will attempt to briefly highlight the doctrines on which we differ in an attempt to show Judaism and Christianity are not spiritually compatible. Although we share a great deal in terms of culture and values, there is little in common theologically.

NATURE OF G-D

Christianity believes that G-d exists as in three distinct entities, as part of a triune godhead. The Christian perception of G-d is of three persons or entities, distinct, co-equal and co-eternal, which for the G-dly being.

At the Nicea council in 325 CE, Jesus was voted G-d. At this council, the Nicene creed was established. It sets out Christian belief on the nature of G-d:

"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. ...And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. ..."

In opposition to this, Judaism teaches radical monotheism, that G-d is absolutely One. "I am the First and I am the Last; besides me there is no god... Is there a god besides Me? There is no rock; I do not know any" (Isaiah 44:6). G-d is an absolute unity, and not a compound unity in the sense of a car which is composed of many individual parts. He is the One and Only divine being. "I am the LORD, and there is none else, beside Me there is no God." (Isaiah 45:5) According to Judaism, G-d has no shape or form, is the One and Only, a complete unity, and is eternal and unchanging. The Jewish understanding of G-d was formed through revelation at Mount Sinai and prophecy as opposed to a vote, as was the case in Nicea.

SIN AND FORGIVENESS

Christianity holds that man is born sinful due to the Fall of Adam, and is therefore doomed. As such, his only hope for salvation is to accept Jesus as his saviour, and that his blood should atone for him. Jesus's death at the cross represents the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world, and anybody who accepts him is granted instant forgiveness. This belief is based on one out of context verse: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11) However, blood sacrifices could only atone for accidental sins, and had to be accompanied by confession and repentance. There were other means of atonement in the Holy Temple, such as the incense offering. And today, in the absence of the sacrifical system, we need only confess our sins and do teshuva to be forgiven. Hosea first asked how we can atone for our sins without sacrifices. In the Jewish Scriptures, G-d told Hosea to tell the Israelites that while they were in exile, to, “return, Israel, unto your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity. TAKE WORDS WITH YOU and return to God; say to Him, ‘May You forgive all iniquity and accept good intentions, and let our lips substitute for bulls’” (14:2-3). According to Hosea, God’s demand was not sacrifice and ritual but a piety and spirituality that expressed itself in love and loyalty. God and Israel’s love relationship is that of husband and wife.

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to God, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God. For He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:7)

"And if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (II Chronicles 7:14).

"But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has practiced he shall live...When a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you (Ezekiel 18:21- 22,27,30).

"If you return to God you will be restored; if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent...then you will delight in God..." (Job 22:23-27).

SATAN AND EVIL

Christianity asserts that a fallen angel, Satan, has free will to act against G-d and fights against Him in a cosmic battle. Satan is the source of evil and sin in the world. Such a belief is idolatry because it believes that there is a power independent of G-d. Judaism believes that the angels were created by G-d and have no free will to oppose Him. G-d gave mankind a dual inclinatation, the yetzer hatov and the yetzer harah, the good and evil inclinations, and that man has the free will to choose in between these. Some Christian denominations believe in predetermination which totally contradicts these.G-D'S SALVATION PLAN

Christianity believes that faith in Jesus, as opposed to good works, is essential. G-d judges the world according to faith in Jesus. This belief, however, is extremely weak as not one verse in the entire Torah mentions belief in the moshiach ben David as a prerequisite for salvation. Judaism asserts that by following G-d's Torah, the 613 mitzvot for Jews and the 7 for non-Jews, a person is saved.

"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances; then thou shalt live and multiply, and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it. But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I declare unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; to love the LORD thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave unto Him; for that is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." (Deut. 30:15-20).

Christianity also views the Torah as a burden or a curse, which was fulfilled and completed by Jesus. Judaism sees the Torah's laws as eternal and unchanging and that they represent G-d's guide and moral compass for us to live more meaningful spiritual lives.

This was just a brief outline of some of the key points in which the two faiths differ. It is important to be able to set barriers between the two religions as the opposite is precisely what Messianic groups attempt to do. Remember that just as Christianity and Mormonism have a lot in common, and yet are very different faiths, so are Christianity and Judaism. One cannot be a Jew and a Christian at the same time.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Shabbat morning services are packed. The chazzan leads the prayers with beautiful traditional Jewish melodies. The congregation, centered around the bimah, listens attentively as the rabbi delivers an enlightening d'var Torah. Everybody is invited for a congregational kiddush following servies in the social hall on the lower level. Sounds like a regular synagogue, eh? Well, this ain't your zaide's shul. No, here the object of adoration is Jesus of Nazareth, er... I mean Yeshua. You'll find no crosses or crucifixes on the walls, nor will you learn about the New Testament. But you will get treated to a lesson from the Brit Chadash, learn about the adventures of the Rav Shaul and the other Talmidim. You have found yourself in a "completed" synagogue.

Since the inception of Christianity, the conversion of Jews has essential. After 2000 years of failure with such techniques as Crusades, Inquisitions and pogroms, the Christian world has found a new method: Messianic "Judaism". Under this guise, hundreds of congregations have sprung up mixing Jewish and Christian rituals, holding 'Christ in the Passover' seders, 'High Holiday' services and pro-Israel events. Their language is deception. In their attempt to ensnare Jews, they call their leaders 'rabbis', although they often are ordained ministers, drop Hebrew or Yiddish phrases, dress up in Jewish clothes and ritual objects, and promise newcomers that they can be Jewish and believe in 'Yeshua' at the same time. They pretend to be Jewish, replace Christian terms with Hebrew ones, such as 'completed' insteand of 'converted', 'immersed in a mikveh' instead of 'baptised', 'moshiach' instead of 'Christ', while their core theology remains identical to Baptist and Fundamentalist Christian belief. Evangelical organization have donated a billion dollars in the last decade to these organizations.

A few weeks ago, the World Evangelical Congress took out a full page add in the New York Times affirming that "the most loving and Scriptural expression of our friendship toward Jewish people, and to anyone we call friend, is to forthrightly share the love of G-d in the person of Jesus Christ." Over the past 25 years, over 275 000 Jews worldwide have been converted by these deceptive missioniaries. Hundreds of Messianic congregations exist, and there are currently over 900 organizations dedicated to converting Jews in North America alone. Missionaries have founded Messianic 'Jewish' schools, with Messianic 'yeshivot' to train their own 'rabbis'. Christian support for Israel has also lead to missionizing in the Holy Land. Sadly, over a hundred Messianic congregations fill up their pews in Israel and hundreds of cults operate all over the country. Evangelical groups have consistently blocked anti-missionary legislation. Conversions and missionizing has reached endemic proportions with 15 000 Jewish souls in Israel now ensnared in these groups. Religious leaders have deemed this situation to be one of shmad, spiritual destruction of the worst sort. Preying on the weak and ignorant, Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, elderly Holocaust survivors and non-committed youth have fallen victim to their efforts.These aggressive tactics and their tragic results have made this website necessary. It bears saying that I bear no hostility towards Christians and I respect American Christians for the amazing moral contributions that they have made to society. However, the incessant attacks and proselityzing cannot be ignored. In former times, whenever a rabbi or Jewish community would hear of a Jew leaving the faith of his ancestors, they would fast. In today's era of shmad, we can do no less. This is a new threat, a form of spiritual terrorism, dedicated to getting Jews to forsake Judaism. Whether it is through Inquisitions and Auschwitzes, or 'Christ in the Passover' seders and missionizing, the ultimate goal is the same- the eradication of the Jewish people through assimilation. This site is dedicated to combatting these spiritual terrorists, exposing these wolves in sheeps' clothing, clearing up the mountain of lies, mistranslations and out of context quotations that form their theology and, G-d willing, bringing back lost Jews to Judaism.

"It is time to act on HaShem's behalf, they have made void Your Torah" (Psalms 119:126)

Why don't Jews believe in Jesus?

“What is the Jew?...What kind of unique creature is this whom all the rulers of all the nations of the world have disgraced and crushed and expelled and destroyed; persecuted, burned and drowned, and who, despite their anger and their fury, continues to live and to flourish. What is this Jew whom they have never succeeded in enticing with all the enticements in the world, whose oppressors and persecutors only suggested that he deny (and disown) his religion and cast aside the faithfulness of his ancestors?!

The Jew - is the symbol of eternity. ... He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind. A people such as this can never disappear.

The Jew is eternal. He is the embodiment of eternity."

- Leo Tolstoy

About Me

"Listen world, I am a Jew, I am a Zionist, and I pledge myself to Return to the bosom of Judaism; to its teachings and commandments, to the Yoke of Heaven to which I gladly bow." --- Rabbi Meir Kahane HY"D